LGF 7: Sick Days
by Rumpelstiltskin und Vladimir
Summary: While Burt's still being punished by Tyler for nearly shooting his new pet, Twitchell comes along with a new, slightly odd, assignment. It turns out a bit more "odder" than any of them anticipated, and much more painful. Secrets come to light, buried memories are unearthed, and justice struggles to be rightly served at long last. *rating for sensitive material later* *CHAPTER 5 UP*
1. Chapter 1

**Hey y'all~ Rumpy an I are back so soon after finishing BB. XD Told you we wanted to move on. haha. Anywho, here's, Sick Days. The title stands for a few different things, which you'll no doubt figure out as you read the story (****_story_****, not chapter). We're both really excited about this one. We have a fuller plot, as well as a couple subplots which I just realized we kinda lacked in our previous stories... Anywho, yeah, this one is more "mature" and we're planning on doing longer chapters than we usually end up doing. Which, with the added subplots, should be easy. So enjoy, and let us know if you agree with us. :) Enjoy.**

***DISCLAIMER* RV makes no claim to own Tremors or its characters. They are the property of S.S. Wilson and ScyFy Entertainment. No profit is made from this writing.**

* * *

One...

Two...Three...

FourFiveSix...

Seven...

_'New record,'_ Jodi thought blearily as she finally finished trying to rocket her brains out through her nose. She sniffled, rubbing her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and sleep, but she couldn't. Tyler was having a special on his tour today: 2 for the price of 1. He had five day tours lined up and another one for his Moonlight Monster tour, which he was finally able to start after battling his way through all of Twitchell's paper work and snippy comments. Which meant Jodi would be in the store all day, cooking and selling. She couldn't complain; it was bringing in much needed money. A little cold wasn't going to stop her.

With one last heavy sigh, exhaling as much of her sleepiness and mental fogginess as she could, Jodi finally shuffled herself into her clothes and downstairs to start preparing for the busy day.

Jodi had been behind the counter for all of two minutes when Larry pushed his way into the store. He was flipping through a worn looking magazine-one of the replacements he had purchased after the destruction of his old ones. "Hey, Jodster!" he greeted, enthusiastic but a little distracted.

"Morning," Jodi replied, the last half of her greeting getting lost in a yawn.

Larry looked up, confused by her hoarse and rather unusual response. A bit of worry crossed his face when he saw her tired, drained appearance. "Hey, you feeling okay, Jodi?"

"Hm? Oh," she offered him a reassuring smile, though it came off as more weary than anything. "I'm fine. Just a bit tired. Didn't sleep well last night."

Larry looked doubtful. "Are you sure? You don't look too good. Sick, I mean. Do you have a cold?" he asked.

"It's nothing, just a little sniffle. What do you want for breakfast? Oh, and could you go and make sure Tyler's up? If he sleeps in late again today, I'll kill him."

"Okay. And I'll have eggs and toast I guess..." Larry said, standing back up but still unconvinced. "You know, if you want to go back to bed I could handle breakfast for you, too," he offered after a moment.

Jodi snorted. "And let you near my stove? I don't think so, bucko," she threw him a reassuring smile. "Now go on, I'll be fine after I've had my coffee. Promise."

Larry returned her smile, even though he wasn't entirely convinced, and headed out to check on Tyler.

For once, the tour guide seemed to have had no problems getting up early, and was already checking his jeep when Larry walked in, waist deep beneath the vehicle.

"Mornin', Larry," he said, his voice muffled.

Larry stopped near the jeep, close to Tyler's legs, kneeling down to peer under the faded orange vehicle. "Hey, Tyler. What you up to? Jodi wanted me to make sure you were awake."

"I'm sleeping, obviously," Tyler deadpanned. "What's it look like I'm doing?"

"Not sure," Larry shrugged as if not picking up on his sarcasm. "Wait a sec, how did you know it was me?"

"Because you're the only one in this entire valley who owns a pair of Batman & Robin sneakers," Tyler rolled out from under the engine, giving Larry a slightly bemused look. "And _wears_ them."

"Only because I can't find my Marvel ones!" the sci-fi and comic fan replied, almost defensively.

Tyler laughed. "Whatever, man. It suits you anyway." He got up and wiped his hands off on a dirty rag. "I'm pretty much done settin' things up on my end. You guys want any help getting the store ready?"

"Yeah, Jodi could use a couple hands," Larry said. "I think she's got a cold or something."

Tyler frowned. "A cold, huh?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "She says she's okay though."

Before Larry could say more, the local survivalist's power wagon pulled up in front of the store. Burt exited the automobile. "Morning Tyler, Larry," he greeted with a nod to each man as he walked over.

Tyler blatantly ignored the man, barely even glancing at him, his attention still on Larry. "That's good. Probably a lie, but good." He smirked slightly. Everyone in Perfection was good at that. Even if they didn't feel well, they'd bluff their way through. It was when they _did_ acknowledge it that one began to truly worry.

Burt scowled, aware of the fact he was being pointedly ignored.

"Um, hi, Burt," Larry responded, confused as he looked between the two older men. "But, yeah, I'm going to go help her out." He started back towards the store.

"I'll be over after I've washed up," Tyler called after him, turning to head to the back of his garage that served as a house.

"Tyler!" Burt called after him. The man gave no sign that he had heard him.

Burt sighed, rolling his eyes, and walked into the store.

* * *

When Twitchell entered the store, the sun was _just_ starting to set over the far-off mountains/graboid barricades. Tyler was sitting at the counter, Nancy cooking behind it, and Burt was sitting at one of the various tables with Larry and Jodi. Which was odd, seeing as Jodi was the one who did most if the cooking in the store.

"Burt! Tyler! Got an assignment for ya."

"Well good day to you too, Twitch," Tyler remarked dryly.

"What is it this time, Twitchell?" Burt asked, not bothering to hide his annoyance.

"A.B.s in a town here in Nevada. Jaquilen," he reported.

"Assblasters?" Jodi looked up with a frown. "How did they get so far along, hasn't anyone seen them yet? Or noticed the bodies going missing, at least?"

"They are in an isolated area," Twitchell informed. "Local police thought they were dealing with a serial killer."

Tyler groaned. "This isn't another Toluca, is it?"

Twitchell rolled his eyes. "They just aren't totally one hundred percent convinced they are A.B.s. But there were a few sightings of 'giant chickens' in the area so the DOI thinks it's a safe bet."

"You up for it, Tyler?" Burt asked purposefully.

Tyler gave no reply, turning back to his fries. Nancy hid a snicker behind her spatula.

Burt let out an indignant huff at once again being ignored. "Fine. We'll do it. When do we head out?"

"Now."

"Whoa! What? No!" Tyler sat up so fast he nearly fell off his stool. "Dude, tonight is the _first_ night of the Moonlight Monster Tour! Why can't we leave in the morning?"

At the mention of 'we' Burt looked ever-so-slightly satisfied.

"_Because_ they seemtokillonapatternand they don't want anyone else being killed," Twitchell explained, the middle part rather rushed and mumbled.

Nancy turned away from the grill, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What was that?"

"The blasters tend to kind of hunt on a little bit of a vague... ish pattern," Twitch said in an attempt at casualness.

"You mean like...a serial killer?" Jodi clarified, raising her eyebrows. "Locals don't sound so crazy anymore."

"Certainly sounds like one," Larry added. "Like, in The Digger episode of-" he started, but was quickly cut off by a sharp glare from, well, everyone.

Twitchell grumbled. "Look, it's not your place to ask questions. It's your job to get in there, kill the turkeys, and get out."

"And what am I supposed to tell my customers?" Tyler demanded angrily.

"That you put on your super suit to go save the world. _I don't care._"

The glare the agent received probably would've lesser men sweat through their suits. But he wasn't one of those lesser men and so ignored it.

Jodi sighed, which quickly turned into a cough. She ignored Larry's worried look and cleared her throat. "I can reschedule for next week, Tyler, it's fine. They haven't arrived yet, hopefully I can reach them before they come. I think they all live relatively close."

Burt slumped in his chair slightly before getting up. "Since that's settled, might as well get a move on Tyler." Tyler simply slumped against the counter and glared down at his plate.

Without another word, Burt stormed out to his power wagon.

Twitchell looked, confused, between the two men. "What in the world is up with you two?"

Nancy smirked. "Burt tried to shoot Tyler's new pet, Squirtle."

"Squirtle?" Twitchell asked.

"It's his Squouse," Larry clarified.

"Oh, that reminds me. Nancy, can you watch him while I'm gone?" Tyler asked. The potter nodded with a smile. "Thanks."

With one last sigh, casting his unfinished meal a longing look, Tyler got up and left to pack.

"See ya later, bro!" Larry called after him.

* * *

**I swear, everything seems shorter on here than in word. v-v But, still it's only the first chapter and it IS longer than usual. So, let us know whatcha think! Like I said, we're real excited 'bout this one. Second chapter should be up in a few days, probably less knowing us. We're out of our weird funk now, so we'll probably go back to the super speedy writing of our creepy mindmeldness...**

**RV out~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! RV is back, again, because we're crazy like that. So, here's our first major subplot that will be in this story, Jodi and Larry slowly getting a little closer (along with a little bit of pushes from Nancy, but we'll let them think it was all their own doing, shall we? ;P). We'll be switching back and forth between JoLa and BuTy, Burt an Ty being the next chapter. Which means, yes, there will be Cliffhangers of Doom that you will have to cling to for a whole 'nother chapter before being able to climb back up. *evil smirk* Don't you just love us?**

* * *

It was nearly two in the morning when Jodi suddenly lurched out of her bed, racing for the bathroom and practically falling against the side of the tub, heaving. After several minutes she leaned back, sitting on the cold floor and resting her cheek on the side. She crinkled her nose up at the smell, closing her eyes so she wouldn't look. She really wasn't looking forward to cleaning that up and mentally berated her half-asleep mind for not using the toilet.

Having refused to let her stay home sick alone for the night, Larry had camped out on her couch. He was jolted from his sleep at the sound of the door slamming shut behind her, and the tiredness in his head was instantly replaced with worry. He pushed the comforter off of him and headed over to the bathroom door, knocking softly.

"You okay, Jode?" he asked through the door.

A faint groan of discomfort and mental death was all he received in reply, Jodi too tired to exert energy into coherent words.

"Is it okay if I come in?" he asked.

Jodi gave a small grunt of agreement. Or rather, a grunt of, "I don't care what the hell you do, I'm busy puking my guts out."

Larry pushed through, kneeling down next to her with a very anxious look on his face. "So much for you being fine," he frowned. "You shouldn't have been up at _all_ today."

Jodi sent him a half-hearted glare before coughing up into the tub again.

The science fiction fan held back her black hair, rubbing small circles on her back. "You're staying in bed tomor- I mean today. I'll take care if the store and everything but you are way too sick," he said.

For a moment it seemed as though the store owner was going to protest, but another convulsion left her too tired to even try grumbling. Her mind was having a hard time focusing and she felt way too hot. She just wanted to sleep for a few years.

After a while the vomiting had subsided, but the fever emanated heat off of her and she looked completely exhausted. "You feeling a bit better? Good enough to get back to bed?"

Jodi nodded weakly.

"Come on," Larry urged her to get up, offering her a hand.

She took it and let him lead her back to her room where she promptly collapsed onto her bed, burying her head in the pillows. Larry sat down a bit on the edge, reaching behind her nightstand and unplugging her alarm clock to make sure it didn't wake her in the morning. He glanced at the Asian woman out of the corner of his eye, secretly feeling bad that there wasn't more he could do to make her feel better.

Within moments, Jodi was asleep again, looking more restful than she had in the bathroom. Larry considered going back to sleep himself, but now that he was up he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again. He was too worried as well, so he left momentarily and returned with a cold cloth that he placed on her forehead. He made a mental note to ask Nancy for some advice on how to make her more comfortable in the morning.

* * *

Nancy ended up being the one finding Larry the next morning, instead of the other way round. She knew Larry had most likely spent the night with Jodi, judging by his constant hovering yesterday, and she definitely knew that he would need help. As nice as he'd been when she'd caught a cold after the invasion of the bugs, he hadn't been able to actually help much. Simple medical knowledge didn't seem to be his forte.

The usually rather childish man was sitting at the counter when Nancy walked in, looking tired and drawn.

"Oh, hi, Nancy," he greeted without his usual excitement.

"Jodi not feeling better?" she guessed, sitting next to him.

Larry shook his head. "She got really stomach sick early this morning," he said. "And her fever is higher I think, but she's sleeping okay. Been up the whole time and I'm gunna take care of the store for her."

Nancy couldn't help laugh at his determined resolve. "I'm sure she'll appreciate that."

"I just hope she feels better soon," he said sadly. "I don't like seeing her so sick."

"No one ever likes seeing their loved ones sick," Nancy agreed.

Larry bit his bottom lip, face growing slightly pink. "L-loved one?" he stuttered at the implication. "I, um, care about Jodi a lot, but, I, uh-"

Nancy just looked at him pointedly. "I'm a mother, Larry. I've had this conversation several times before. Save your energy."

He crossed his arms on the counter in front of him, burying his face in them. "I feel like everyone figured it out even faster than I did."

"Oh, honey, that's not true!" Nancy said, rubbing his back comfortingly. "I'm pretty sure Burt's still oblivious...but then he is Burt, so..."

Larry managed a bit of a laugh at that. "Yeah. I just wish... well, I could tell her," he said, looking up.

Nancy chewed her lip for a moment, thinking. Finally, she spoke, leaning her head on her hand. "Did you know Jodi was jealous of Skyler?"

"What? She was?" Larry asked. "How come?"

"Oh, I dunno," Nancy rolled her eyes as if trying to remember. "Maybe because you became such good friends with so quickly, and would sit there and talk for hours about all your favourite stuff?" She threw him a teasing smile.

"But I thought Jodi just found a lot of the stuff I talk about annoying," he said thoughtfully.

"Well of _course_ she does!" Nancy chided. "But that doesn't mean she want _other_ girls to enjoy it."

Larry fell silent for a second, thinking. "Was she really _jealous_?" he asked, remembering how _he_ felt when Randall Lewis was flirting with Jodi. Doesn't that mean she kind of likes him back?

The potter sat and watched the man as he stared into nothing. She could practically _see_ the gears in his head turning as he slowly figured out what exactly that meant, and she couldn't help but smile. A small but excited grin crept onto Larry's face even as his face grew a little redder.

Nancy giggled. "Got it now?"

Larry nodded with a happy laugh. "I never thought she might, you know, like me like _that_. Thanks, Nancy," he said with a bit of a goofy smile.

She grinned back. "Okay, now go to bed," she ordered, shoving him off the stool gently. "I'll take care of Jodi for a few hours, but you need your sleep too, or you'll be useless later." Her tone held no room for argument.

Larry nodded reluctantly, heading to the back room to collapse on the couch.

* * *

"Jodi? You awake?" Nancy asked quietly as she entered the room, holding a tray of chicken noodle soup and crackers and a glass of water. She placed the dinner on the table and sat down on the edge of the bed, feeling the woman's forehead.

The store owner's eyes blinked open at the older woman's cool hand on her head. "Hm? Where's Larry?" was the first thing she asked, confused.

Nancy chuckled softly. "He's attending to a small group of tourists in the store," she replied. "He'll be back once they're gone and he closes up."

"Oh," she responded in a puff of air, closing her eyes. "Uhg, I feel awful. I think somebody rubbed my throat with sandpaper."

Nancy gave her a sympathetic smile, lowering her hand. "Well, your fever's gone down some at least. It was worse this morning." She stood up and reached for the tray of food. "Think you can handle some homemade chicken noodle soup?"

Jodi crinkled her nose at the thought of getting sick early that morning, but her stomach felt much better than then. "Yeah, I think so."

"Good," Nancy set the tray down on the bed as Jodi sat up, making sure nothing would spill before sitting down again.

Jodi carefully slowly swallowed some of the noodles, wincing slightly. Nancy rubbed her back comfortingly. "We're all out of lozenges here, but I'll see about running to Bixby in the morning to get some. Might help."

Jodi nodded slightly. "How's Larry handling the store?" she asked between another spoonful of soup.

"Okay. Not as well as he usually does, but it's understandable."

"Huh? Why?" Jodi asked. "What's the matter?"

For a moment, the older woman just stared at her as if the answer were completely obvious. "_You're_ the matter, Jodi. What else did you think? I mean really."

She let out a puff of air. "He's still worried about me? It's just a bug."

"Oh, honestly!" Nancy cried, throwing her hands into the air. "I swear, you two are completely hopeless sometimes! Have you _still_ not figured it out?"

"No, enlighten me," the sick woman shot back, slightly annoyed.

"_He loves you_," Nancy said, enunciating each word clearly so as to leave no doubt or confusion. "And _you love him_."

Jodi glared into her soup as she felt her cheeks grow hot, even compared to her fever.

"Don't deny it," Nancy chided. "I've already had this conversation with both of you before. I know everything."

"I won't," Jodi sighed. "You just love making things awkward for the two of us," she joked.

Nancy shook her head. "I do nothing but state the facts. It'll happen eventually, everyone knows it. Except you two, for some reason," she added, giving the younger woman an odd look.

Jodi looked up at Nancy for a second before returning her eyes to the soup. "Did he... Really say he loved me?" she asked, internally blaming the crack in her voice on her sore throat.

"Uh...Well...not exactly..." Nancy replied, frowning in thought. "I think the only L word he's used so far is 'like'."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Nancy just rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Just eat your soup. And drink your water slowly, we don't need you throwing up again in the middle of the night."

Jodi just nodded idly, sipping slowly at her soup. Nancy had certainly got her mind going.

* * *

**Vee ol lah! It has been said! Those three little words everyone wants to hear. *swoon* Except...it wasn't with pronoun "I" and it was said by the third wheel. pffffft.**

**Remember, Burt and Tyler are next, you get to see more of Tyler's "punishment" towards Burt. XD I'm having way too much fun with that by the way. Maybe it's because I know what happens... *notices audience staring with wide-eyed, curious, nervousness* ...ISAIDNOTHING! *runs away***


	3. Chapter 3

**O. M. _CHEESE_. I completely forgot to upload chapter three when we finished it! Like, a week ago! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?! DX I didn't even realize until I got chapter four all up and ready, then was about to add it to the story and realized, THERE'S NOT 3! *dies* Okay, in that case...because we HAVE to have SOME semblance of suspense between chapters...I'll add this chapter now and add chapter 4 Thursday. Okay? whew. I can't believe I did this...yeah, I've forgotten before, but never for so long!**

* * *

Jaquilen was a fair-sized town on the other side of the state near the Oregon border, and they had a several hours ahead of them. Tyler was resting his head on his arm on the door, watching the road fly past beneath the tires. The wind was cold, and his cheeks were rosy from the chill but he was too tired to sit up behind the cover of the windshield. Twitchell had wanted them to be there by morning, not seeming to care that they'd had a busy day and were pretty much running on empty, but after half an hour of driving Burt had muttered something about "finding a damn hotel and Twitchell could just suck it up." They hadn't had any luck so far, and Tyler was fairly sure that if they didn't find one soon Burt would just pull off the shoulder and they'd sleep in the car.

They'd been driving for about an hour now, riding in complete silence. Although at the moment, it was due to both of them being tired and not because Tyler was still giving the older man the silent treatment. That had been going on for about two weeks now, but by the end of the first Tyler had stopped doing it for punishment and instead just to mess with Burt. He found the annoyed grumbles and aggravated eye rolling amusing, and Burt's chipmunk impression would _never_ stop being funny.

Burt was in fact getting to the point where he was just going to pull over. He pushed on a bit longer, which he was incredibly thankful for doing when a small motel came into view down a small road. He pulled down it without a second thought. Tyler glanced up at the small, slightly run-down building as they neared it. A single streetlamp lit the area, casting a yellow glow on everything and doing nothing to enhance the appearance. He doubted the inside looked any better. Probably covered in peeling paint and bedbug infested cots.

"We're stopping here for the night," Burt mumbled, parking the power wagon and pushing open the door. Tyler just dropped his head back onto his arm with a faint grunt of acknowledgement but didn't bother getting out of the car.

Too tired to go acknowledged his reaction, Burt headed into the motel to check in. A small bell above the door jingled as he walked into the empty office While what sounded like a TV played in a back room. Seconds later a gruff voice called out, "Coming!" as the TV was shut off and a dog came bounding down the hallway and up to Burt, wagging its tail and jumping up to put its paws on his leg.

"Down, Fido," the voice growled again as an elder man shuffled into the room and behind the counter, sporting a scruffy beard and unkempt hair. He glared at the customer irritably, casting a glance outside to see Tyler in the truck before ringing up the cost, not bothering to wait for Burt to speak. "Name?"

"Burt Gummer and Tyler Reed," he responded.

The man grunted and threw a key onto the counter. "Room 17. Pay in the morning. Check out's at 10. I got places to be tomorrow." With that, he left, disappearing into the back again with his dog following behind.

Burt watched the man walk away for a moment, slightly suspicious of his odd behavior. When he was gone, he turned around and left the office. Tyler hadn't moved from his position, and it took a few moments before Burt realized the man had fallen asleep.

Burt sighed, feeling a bit bad for the younger man despite the silent treatment he had been giving him lately. "Tyler," he said, nudging him slightly to wake him.

"Mmmmmm," Tyler cracked open an eye to look at him, his expression demanding a damn good reason as to why he was being woken up, but the look disappeared as he realized where he was.

"We got a room," Burt informed, holding up the key.

The first thing Tyler could coherently think when they walked into the room was, _'At least it's not a cot.'_ Although he honestly wasn't sure if the...thing...on the floor was better or worse. For the most part, it looked like a giant, dirty marshmallow had been flattened and covered in a couple blankets. No headboard, no bed rails; just a giant pillow thing on the ground that apparently served as a mattress. And 'giant' wasn't exaggerating, the thing was literally about seven feet all around. The rest of the room consisted of a crummy looking bathroom and a desk with a lamp.

Tyler cast his partner a rather quizzical look. Burt rolled his eyes. "I said that there was two people and he gives us some room that has something that barely even passes for a _bed_." He would have preferred his own cot.

Tyler stared at the room for a little longer before deciding that he was way too tired to deal with the confusing thought process of whoever built this place, dropped his stuff on the floor, kicked off his shoes, and collapsed on the "bed". He'd deal with the weirdness in the morning.

Gummer stole some blankets and camped out on floor without another thought. Para-military-paranoids could deal with things like that.

* * *

They left early the next morning much to the annoyance of the owner who apparently didn't like being woken up at six a.m. The motel offered a measly breakfast that the men doubted was even edible, so they skipped the meal and headed on towards Jaquilen, snacking on MREs. It wasn't until they were about thirty minutes away that Tyler finally spoke, although it was more of a surprised statement as he read one of the highway signs announcing the closest towns.

"I thought I recognized that name."

Burt looked between the man and the road a few times, honestly surprised by the fact he decided to choose then to speak. "What do you mean?"

Tyler motioned back towards the sign. "Jaquilen. I thought it sounded familiar when Twitch mentioned it, but I couldn't place it 'til now. My parents live in the town right next to it, 'bout half an hour away."

"You've never mentioned your parents before," Burt pointed out. "Neither did Skylar when she visited."

"Dad's a little overprotective and harsh sometimes," Tyler shrugged. "He's an Air-force colonel and has made a few enemies in his time. We love him, but it's nice getting away sometimes where he's not nit-picking every detail of our lives, afraid we're gonna get kidnapped or something. Ma's the complete opposite though. Kind of..." he trailed off for a moment, thinking. "She's actually kinda hard to explain. She's just...mom."

"At least you're on good terms," Burt nodded. "We could stop by for a visit when we finish this assignment if you want," he offered.

"Sure," Tyler shrugged again, stealing the canteen for a drink. "Dad probably won't be there though. Think he's working on some new aircraft at the yard."

A moment passed in silence between them. "So, you ever been to Jaquilen?" Burt asked, hoping to keep Tyler talking to avoid more of the man's silent treatment.

Tyler chuckled lightly at it. "No. They only moved here a couple years ago. We helped them move in but never stayed long enough to see the other towns."

Burt nodded as they neared what seemed to be the main section of the town. It took them about fifteen minutes to find the place where they were supposed to meet Twitchell. It was a small police station- why the agent choose there, Burt could only guess- and Twitch was luckily there. However, he didn't look happy. At all.

"Where the _hell_ have you two been?!" he shouted before they could even park.

"_Sleeping_," Tyler retorted as he climbed out of the truck. "Our superpowers are aim and speed, not going long periods without rest."

"Well that's just a _shame_," Twitch responded, voice dripping with sarcasm, "Because in the time it took you two to get here the Assblasters got _another_ woman."

Tyler's face dropped at the news, exchanging a glance with Burt. He knew they probably wouldn't have been able to hunt it properly last night anyway, but the fact didn't make them feel any better.

Burt frowned as well. "Sorry, Twitchell, but we wouldn't have been much use to you if I had fallen asleep at the wheel," he shot back.

"Whatever," Twitch mumbled. "You two need to get a move on NOW."

"Alright, alright," Tyler grumbled, rolling his eyes. "So why'd we have to meet here at the police station?"

"The deputy wanted to meet you two," Twitchell informed. "Wanted to inform you about what's been going on. I think he might know you, Tyler. Name's Reed, too."

Tyler looked at him blankly, mentally running through his family for a cop. "Really?"

Twitch nodded as a cop car began to pull up behind them. "Yeah, here he is now. Hey! Jedadiah!" he called with a wave as the man got out of his vehicle. "These are the two monster hunters."

The name was hardly out of the agents' mouth when Tyler froze, eyes widened in a strange mix of what looked like fear and hatred before the emotion disappeared as quickly as it had come, replaced with a look of blank hostility.

Burt gave his partner a confused look at the man approached. He was a tall guy, with about two inches on the survivalist and thick sandy hair. He had an amiable grin that seemed ever-so-slightly off to Burt.

"Tyler! So, it is you. I thought so, but had no idea you had moved out here," he greeted. "Last I heard you were on your way to NASCAR."

"And last I heard you were-"

"And you must be Burt Gummer," the deputy interrupted, walking up to him and shaking his hand.

Burt nodded, glancing quickly at Tyler. "How do you two know each other? Are you related?" he questioned. There was a definite resemblance between the two, sharing similar eye shape and nearly identical hair.

"No," Tyler said bluntly before Jedadiah could reply. "We're not."

The man just chuckled and Burt looked at Tyler, doubtful of that.

"Right..." Twitchell cleared his throat awkwardly, glancing at the cop. "Anyway, why we're here..."

"There have been a lot of disappearances lately," the man informed, "All women in their mid-to-late forties with dark or black hair. Doesn't sound like any animal to us."

"But there has been sightings of unusual creatures?" Burt asked, though he found it odd as well. A.B.s could be picky, sure, just look a Messerschmitt. But not when choosing people.

"Yeah, sure. But there have been Bigfoot claims and chupacabra sightings here for as long as I can remember," the guy shrugged. "Doesn't mean anything in these parts."

"Most of the bodies -or what's left of them- have been found near the cliffs just west of the town," Twitchell added. "Figure you guys can check there first, do whatever it is you do."

"Sounds like the best place to start," Burt nodded. "Got a map, Twitchell?" The agent nodded, pulling one from his pocket and handing it over. Taking the folded up paper, Burt motioned to his friend. "Come on, Tyler," he said, moving back to the power wagon.

* * *

They had to pass through town to get to the cliffs. Tyler had fallen into a stony silence, glaring out the window.

"How did you know him?" Burt asked, urging the tour guide to talk to him again.

"Just drop it, Burt," Tyler replied quietly, a hard edge to his voice saying he wasn't discussing it further.

Burt looked at him out of the corner of his eye with a sigh. "You think these really are A.B.s?" he tried instead. "Certainly sounds like Twitchell is out of the loop on this one."

Tyler shrugged. It seemed to becoming a thing for him lately. "Maybe."

Burt slumped a bit further in his seat as they approached the cliff. He wasn't used to getting such little interaction from his usually talkative partner and it made him more edgy than usual. And the fact that his trademark, cheery attitude was gone as well didn't help any. He parked the power wagon not far from the steep drop-off, getting out.

They walked along the base for several minutes before they found anything. Tyler crinkled his nose at the sudden sharp smell of sulfur. "You smell that?"

Burt hesitated for a moment before nodding curtly. "Rotten eggs-"

"-Marinated in bad beer."

* * *

**I love the whole "Burt an Tyler are superheroes" thing goin' on in here, lol. Okay, see ya Thursday! I won't forget, I promise!**


	4. Chapter 4

**-Okay, so it's Thursday. Here's chapter 4! You're lucky, I almost couldn't do this today 'cause our cable is off 'til we pay the bill (and I'm not going to the library today). But then I remembered, that my computer is weird, and I can get to certain sites if I have links of them in my email (which I can also always access when "kicked off". And that FF was one of them. So, here I am! :P-**

**So we finally got the fourth chapter done! :P First things first...I have never actually seen Titanic (at least not all of it). Also, I've never seen SGU. I was just goin' off what a lot of others seem to say about it. So if yer a fan...don't hate me. v-v Enjoy!**

* * *

_"Don't let go, Jack!"_

Jodi stared at the TV screen blankly_. 'There is so totally enough room for two on that thing,'_ she thought. _'This doesn't even make sense.'_

Larry watched the last of the tourists leave for the day before heading to the back to check on the store owner. He poked his head through the door to her small living room. "Hey, Jodi, what'cha up to?" he asked.

"Decided I'd finally watch Titanic," Jodi replied hoarsely.

"Enjoying it?" he asked.

"Not really."

The Trekkie looked thoughtful for a second before grinning. "I'll be back in a second. Hang tight."

Jodi looked up as he raced from the room and rolled her eyes. Larry returned quickly with a moderately sized case. He sat down on the couch next to her and set the case on the coffee table in front of them. He opened the top to reveal his DVD collection. "Choose something," he offered with a smile.

"Hmmm..." she leaned over and sorted through it. Not many captured her interest and she was about to give up when she suddenly gasped and grabbed one of the cases. "You have StarGate SG-1?!"

"The whole series," Larry nodded. "You like StarGate?"

Jodi blushed as she realized how she'd reacted. "Yeah...I like SGA better though, but SG-1 is a close second. I hate SGU though. Too soap opera-y."

Larry grinned. "I can see what you mean. Wanna watch it?" he offered.

"Sure," Jodi replied, toning down her excitement to a mere 'whatever' attitude.

Larry ejected the Titanic DVD, replacing it with the first SG-1 disk. About an hour or so of the show passed in relative silence (Larry usually liked to talk during things he had seen before but he had learned the hard way that Jodi didn't). He kept watching her out of the corner of his eye, still not able to stop worrying about the store owner. She looked tired and was rubbing her arms like she was cold, but refused to accept a blanket he offered.

Larry was finally able to distract himself for a bit of time near the end of the pilot episode as O'Neill teamed up with Teal'c to rescue the prisoners, one of his favourite parts of the entire season. However, his concentration was broken when he felt Jodi's head lean on his shoulder. He hadn't noticed that she had fallen asleep and slowly inched closer to him until she was near enough that he could feel the feverish heat radiating off of her.

The sci-fi fan bit his lip nervously, face flushing red when the Asian woman snuggled closer in her sleep. Not really sure what to so, he wrapped an arm around her and stroked her dark hair gently, embarrassed but glad she seemed so relaxed.

* * *

It was some time later when Jodi woke up to gun fire and phasers. She blinked her eyes open slowly to see the show still playing, now on what looked like the third episode. How long had she slept?

A small murmur just above her head startled her, and she suddenly took in the warm body she was snuggled into. She sat up quickly, her face blushing deeply beneath the fever. Larry stirred slightly in his sleep but didn't wake up and Jodi was left to silently freak out in peace. She'd been _snuggling_ with _Larry_!

_'Okay Jodi, calm down. You're sick. You were tired. You're supposed to keep warm when you have a fever, it was probably just a survival instinct. Burt's always talking about that stuff. Right? Right. That's all it was. Not-...that.'_

As Jodi internally rationalized the situation, Larry stirred again, starting to wake up. Jodi's eyes widened and she stumbled as quickly and quietly to her feet as possible, fleeing to the bathroom before he fully came to his senses.

By the time Larry was actually awake enough to take in his surroundings, Jodi was already gone. Self-conscious that he had not only fallen asleep too, but long enough that Jodi woke before him and left, he quickly turned off the TV and began to put his things away. Clutching his large DVD case, Larry pushed through the door and into the hall. He caught a glimpse of Jodi in her kitchenette, acting like nothing happened. His mind raced trying to figure out what she thought of what happened, but instead of asking, he left the store. He figured she would prefer him to stay at his own place tonight.

* * *

Jodi didn't sleep much that night, whether because of her unintended nap or because of who she'd napped with, she didn't know. At 5 AM, she gave up and started cooking. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, omelets, breakfast burritos; the others had better be hungry when they got up.

Nancy was up early that morning because she had skipped dinner. She didn't know why, but it always kept her from sleeping in past five thirty. So, she headed over to the store to see if anyone else was up or she could make herself something to eat. She found Jodi up and about.

"Skip dinner again?" Jodi asked, glancing up briefly as she skillfully flipped another omelet on the grill.

"Against my better judgment," the potter rolled her eyes. "What's your excuse? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I had a restful nap yesterday evening."

Something in the younger woman's tone made Nancy quirk an eyebrow. "Why do you say that like it's a bad thing?"

Jodi blushed deeply, mentally cursing her fevered sensitive cheeks. "I didn't."

"Oh?" Nancy let the single, disbelieving syllable hang in the air, her well-practiced mom stare demanding an honest answer. Much like her daughter Mindy used to do, Jodi stubbornly focused on her cooking, determined not to give in but caving little by little as each second passed.

"I slept with Larry," she muttered finally.

Nancy wasn't sure what kind of answer she was expecting, but it was definitely nothing along those lines. "I- well, didn't think you guys would get together _that_ quickly," she stuttered.

"What?" Jodi turned to look at her, dropping her spatula as she realized how she had worded her sentence. "Not like that!" she shrieked, reaching a pitch that surprised even her.

"Then what do you mean?" Nancy responded, flustered.

Jodi fiddled with the omelet for a moment, before turning off the grill and sitting on the stool next to Nancy. "I fell asleep watching StarGate with him...and woke up to find myself snuggled into his side."

Nancy grinned. "That's adorable," she cooed.

"No, it was _embarrassing_! I don't even know if he knew I was cuddling him...I left before he could wake up."

"Is he still asleep?" Nancy asked pointedly.

Jodi shook her head. "He woke up shortly after I escaped and left. Didn't ask why or where."

"Then he probably knew," Nancy responded. "I don't think he would have left unless he was just as embarrassed as you. I'm sorry, you guys really are adorable. I just wish you would stop being so stubborn, Jodi!"

"Oh like you're not," Jodi snapped back, crossing her arms and slumping dejectedly in her seat. "We live in Perfection, it comes with the territory...'least that's what Tyler always says about us women."

"I'm as stubborn as the day is long," Nancy admitted. "Speaking of Tyler, I wonder how those two are doing," she added. "It sounded like this is the weirdest case Twitch has sent them on."

"Yeah, what was it? Human-picky assblasters?"

"Yep," Nancy nodded. "Sounds more like a serial killer to me."

Jodi nodded, getting up to continue her cooking. "I really hope it isn't. Do you have any idea how sick a person copying assblasters has to be?" she shuddered. "Doing that to a body..."

"Doing what to a body? Wow, what's with all the food? It's like you're preparing for a funeral or something." Rosalita let the screen door close behind her as she followed Harlow to the counter, taking in the edgy mood and plates of pancakes.

"The assignment Twitchell sent Burt and Tyler on is really unusual," Nancy explained, answering Rosalita's first question. "And Jodi is getting breakfast done early."

"Oh yeah, I heard something about it from Larry," the rancher furrowed her brow. "Something about...assblasters methodically kidnapping people?"

"That's what Twitchell told us," Nancy replied.

"What do you mean by kidnapping?" Harlow asked.

"Well, apparently there might be a pattern they hunt in," the woman explained. "More like a person than an A.B."

"Yeah, the locals seem to think it's a serial killer," Jodi added, setting several empty plates on the counter along with whatever food she had already cooked so the others could dig in. "And to be honest, the way Twitch was so hesitant to say it makes me think he agrees with them. Which really has me worried."

Harlow took a plate and a little bit of everything Jodi put out. "Either way, I think those two can handle whatever gets thrown at them."

"Well, yeah, but they're not exactly prepared for something like that," Rosalita protested, waving a piece of bacon in the air. "I mean, think about. They're used to hunting creatures, animals. Not people."

"Humans are much less predictable than animals," Nancy backed her up. "An animal's behavior is based on instinct. A human's is based on rational thought and predicting other's responses."

"Except serial killers don't think like normal people," Harlow pointed out. "They are all patterns and needs like animals. Plus, this is Burt we are talking about. That guy was prepared for World War III. I think he can handle people."

"I don't think I'd fit soldiers and psychos in the same group," Jodi said, wrinkling her nose. "As for acting more like animals, I agree, but they still act on human emotions and interactions. You get someone poking around their business, they won't react on instinct like an animal. They'll either freak because their pattern is in danger of being broken and start acting out of character, or they'll calmly plan around them, usually in a way that leads them on a goose hunt that ends up being their demise. Either way, they're more dangerous than animals _or_ people."

"I have to agree with you, Jodi," Nancy nodded. "Though Harlow has a point that those boys haven't found a single thing they can't handle yet."

The Native American man shrugged with a smile at that.

"There's a first time for everything," Rosalita mumbled quietly, looking down at her breakfast with a far-away gaze.

Harlow patted her gently on the shoulder. "Don't worry about them, Rosalita. They'll be fine. You know, there is still a chance they really are just after some weird assblasters."

"Yeah, this is just a random psychological debate we're having at six o'clock in the morning. I wouldn't hold much stock in it," Jodi gave her a languid smile. "I'm sure they're probably having target practice with giant chickens right about now."

* * *

**Hmmmm. What's all this psycho talk? Haha. Rumpy an I were laughing during that scene. I have had SO many times I suddenly get into some random, tired psychological debate in the middle of the night with Dexxy whenever we have a sleepover. It's so much fun...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Heyyy, y'all, RV here (mostly V at the moment) with the fifth chapter of Sick Dayyyyyys! The ending is super kinda sad and majorly cliff-hangy. My doing; you're welcome; good luck with that; don't flippin' kill me please.**

* * *

Burt and Tyler were back at the small-town station. The survivalist leaned back against the wall, arms crossed, as they reported back to Twitchell. "There's no doubt. There are definitely assblasters out there," he informed.

"From what we saw, we guess there's about 7 or so," Tyler added. "I'm actually surprised there aren't more people missing. They're the easiest prey around for miles, and the biggest."

"_Seven_?" Twitchell repeated.

Burt nodded. "I've handled that many before. This shouldn't be a problem."

The agent sighed in a mix of annoyance and relief. "So what's the plan? Did you find their...nest or whatever?"

"Yeah, but we won't hunt them there," Burt explained. "Unfortunately, I didn't bring any explosives to take them out all at the same time, and it's too dangerous to go after them all at once. A.B.s are the smartest creatures in the cycle. We draw them out, take out one or two at a time."

"And how long is this going to take?"

"Two days," Burt said. "Possibly three."

"_If_ you let us do our jobs and don't hire on wannabes lookin' to get famous in the hunting world," Tyler gave the plump man a pointed look. "We don't need anyone screwin' up our plans again."

Twitchell narrowed his eyes angrily. "McClain wasn't my idea. Now just hurry up and get the damn job done, alright?" He turned and stomped out of the room only to abruptly push past a rather large man in the doorway, making his intentionally angry exit turn out rather awkward and flustered. Jed looked after him, vaguely confused but uninterested, before turning to Tyler and Burt without unblocking the doorway.

"Couldn't help but overhear. So it really is creatures threatenin' this town?" he asked.

Tyler's body stiffened but he remained otherwise impassive. "Yes."

"And we are certain of this fact," Burt added, unable to tell if Jedadiah was skeptical or not. With the absence of Twitchell, the man had lost his welcoming and helpful air. "I've dealt with these things more than I would like, and would know the signs of them anywhere."

Jed grinned, but it came off slightly more like a smirk, as if that amused him for some reason. "I trust your judgment."

"I'm sure you do."

Burt stared momentarily at Jed before glancing at his partner. "Let's go, Tyler," he said, nodding towards the door. He started towards it, followed by the tense tour owner.

Jed moved just enough to let the survivalist past. Tyler hesitated for a moment before trying to pass the deputy, but when he attempted to get by, he felt a firm grip catch his arm. Jedadiah pushed him back into the room slightly, with a nasty grin. "It _has_ been a while, hasn't it, kid?"

Tyler glared at him and yanked his arm free of the crushing grasp. "Not long enough," he snapped, shoving past to catch up with Burt. Jed just laughed without turning around, continuing into the room Tyler and Burt had been occupying and shutting the door behind him.

* * *

Burt quickly cleared the desk at the thankfully normal hotel. He snapped out the map Twitchell had provided them, spreading it out in from to him. The locations of the womens' remains were already shown -there were seven to date- marked in blue pen. The survivalist pulled out a red permanent marker, boxing off the general area, which encompassed a little under a mile of the stretch of cliff.

"It's clear that the nest is somewhere within this perimeter," Burt started, in the military-like tone he always took on when he was coming up with a plan. Tyler grunted in acknowledgement as he moved about the room, unpacking their things and putting them away.

Burt looked over his shoulder from where he leaned over the map to glance at the tour guide momentarily. He turned back to the paper, adding an 'x' where they had discovered the Assblasters' unmistakable scent. He added another circle around that.

"And we know that there was one in this vicinity in the last twenty-four hours," he added.

"How spread out do you think they are?" Tyler asked.

"Probably not much," Burt responded. "A.B.s tend to congregate together."

"I meant their territory, Burt," Tyler said with a sigh, and Burt could almost hear the small eye-roll in his voice.

Burt's brow furrowed at Tyler's short patience. "I imagine their territory is large," he informed, scanning the map for the last known whereabouts of the women. They were spread out around the town, but none outside of it.

"But wouldn't _more_ people be missing if it were? I mean, I know they've been being picky, but only _seven_ women have gone missing since the graboid showed up? Unless there's a big farm nearby or something they've been raiding. You got to admit, it doesn't make a lot of sense."

Burt turned the swivel chair around to face his partner. "The quality of the ground in this area isn't conducive to the living conditions a graboid requires," he explained. "Chances are greater that they went through their life cycle elsewhere and settled here to lay their eggs."

Tyler frowned at him. "Then why haven't we gotten any reports of them? There's not that much free country left these days, I find it hard to believe they managed to go through a graboid and shriekers without running into a town or a farm at least. And Twitch wouldn't have missed it, you know how closely his department follows this kind of thing."

"I'm not clairvoyant," Burt mumbled, again turning back to his planning.

"Coulda fooled me."

Burt puffed out his cheeks in annoyance at his friend's attitude. "You're _supposed_ to be helping me, Tyler."

"Thought I was," Tyler replied shortly, slamming the drawer of the dresser shut.

"Knowing how they got past the radar here won't help us get rid of them!" Burt sighed. "We need to focus on the task at hand."

"I wasn't talking about how they escaped the radar, I was talking about their territory!" Tyler snapped, displaying an anger Burt had never seen in the man before. "The _fact_ that they managed to go unnoticed for so long in such a crowded area shows they can't have been hunting in a large area. Which means it's a smaller area, which _does_ help! Fat lot of good it'll do having a battle plan if we don't know where to strike."

Tyler's out-of-character behavior had Burt turning around once again. He nearly argued back, but instead raised an eyebrow at him. Burt looked more skeptical, even worried, as he looked over the younger man. "What is going on with you, Tyler? You've never acted like this before."

The younger man just stared at him for a moment, eyes swimming with an unexpected hatred, before turning back to his task. "I'm fine."

"I find that hard to believe," Burt responded in a clipped tone.

"Whatever."

"Tyler," Burt pushed. "You can't just brush this off."

"Burt..." Tyler's voice was full of warning, but the survivalist ignored it.

"Does it have to do with that deputy?" Burt asked.

"I said drop it!" Tyler exploded, making Burt jump. He had _never_ seen him lose his temper like this.

Several seconds dragged by at an agonizing pace as the room just seemed to freeze. Then Tyler was grabbing his jacket and slamming the motel door behind him, not giving his partner a chance to protest.

Burt gaped after him for another few seconds before awkwardly returning to scribbling on his map. Part of him wanted to chase after the other man and find out what the hell was going on with him. Another part was a little nervous to. Tyler Reed was an easy-going man, it took a lot to get him rightly mad. Even those Vegas guys hadn't bothered him this much. Something was definitely going on with him, and Burt was determined to figure out what it was. But for now, he'd let Tyler cool down; it wouldn't do him a lot of good to get punched in the face.

* * *

Burt was occupying himself with marking various important locations on the paper in front of him when a sudden noise startled him out of his planning. He immediately recognized it as Tyler's cellphone, and the short glance at the secondary screen told him it was coming from Chang's.

The survivalist hesitated, wondering for a moment if he should answer his partner's phone. Deciding it was probably important -nobody from town regularly called them while on assignment- he picked the cell up off the dresser and answered.

"Hey, do you guys have a better idea of when you'll be back?" Jodi's voice -sounding both better and worse than Burt had last heard it- came through the phone, not bothering with any pleasantries.

"Er..." Burt mumbled to himself, "Two, three days tops. We have roughly seven Assblasters to deal with before we can leave," he answered.

"Oh, hi Burt! What're you doing with Tyler's phone?"

"Tyler... Stepped out of the hotel," Burt explained awkwardly.

The woman immediately picked up on his underlying tone and sighed in exasperation. "Are you guys fighting again?"

"We had a disagreement."

Another sigh, longer this time. "What'd you do this time, Burt?"

"It's not me!" he defended. "He's acting strange. Something's bothering him but he won't tell me what. I have a distinct feeling it has something to do with the deputy of Jaquilen."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "What do you mean?"

"Ever since we met the guy- Jedadiah Reed, I think they are related but Tyler denies it- well," he hesitated, "I've never seen Tyler act this way before," he finished, a bit of worry tinting his usually stoic voice.

"Act what way, exactly?"

"So angry," Burt sighed. "You would never believe he would ever act the way he has been the last few hours. He stormed out about thirty minutes ago just because I was asking him what was wrong."

"Wow. That definitely doesn't sound like him," another voice sounded in the background and Jodi sighed for the third time that night. "I gotta go, Larry said I could only use the phone long enough to call Tyler, then I had to go back to bed. Anyway, the reason I called was because those tourists coming for his Moonlight Tour said they can only wait five days, then they have to go on. Let Tyler know for me, will ya?"

"Will do, Jodi," Burt nodded to himself. "Hope you feel better," he added.

"Thanks."

* * *

Tyler kicked the large pebble on the sidewalk for the millionth time. He'd been walking around aimlessly for several hours now and the sun had just gone down. There was still a faint glow on the horizon. A faint chill was in the air as well, hinting at the low temperatures that were on their way and he found himself wishing he had grabbed a warmer jacket. It was fall now, and the cold desert nights were becoming colder as winter slowly set in. Tyler briefly wondered if they would get as much rain this year as they did last.

Kicking his way down yet another block, he finally allowed his thoughts to turn back to the motel, and Burt. He felt bad for reacting the way he had, he knew Burt hadn't meant any harm in his questions. He was Tyler, mellow, calm, and in control. Acting like a hot-headed teen who needed an attitude adjustment was bound to cause worry and confusion.

Still, Tyler just couldn't bring himself to talk about that-….that _abomination_ that shared his family name. He didn't want Burt to know the truth. And if he could just get through this stupid assignment without having to talk to that thing, then he never would. They would go home and everything would be normal. Jodi would ask if they managed to save in parts even though she knew it would be useless, Twitchell would grumble about overpaying them, Larry would demand details, and it would be _normal_. Funny, thinking of life in the valley as "normal". But when you have lived in Perfection for a while- _'Oh my God.'_

Tyler stumbled as a horrifying realization suddenly invaded his mind. Jed knew about Burt now. He knew Tyler worked with him. It was no secret to the world where the famous Burt Gummer lived; and it wouldn't take a genius to figure out his partner no doubt lived there too.

'_No. No no no!'_ The tour guide collapsed against the side of the towns' bank, pulling his knees up and buried his face in his arms. All this time…all this time he'd managed to forget his existence, and now the man knew where he lived. There was no doubt he would "drop by" at some point; and when he did, Tyler's life would be ruined. Again.

Tyler hugged himself tighter as he shivered from more than just the cold. His very core was shaking and he struggled to keep his breathing under control, to keep himself from slipping into another panic attack. He hadn't had one in over a decade -unless he counted the one he'd had in Perfection earlier that year, but he mostly blamed that one on Shadow for poking at his brain. Plus, to be perfectly honest, he never even really remembered it, just what the others had told him.

Leave it to that creep to unravel everything again, so easily.

'_Why can't he just rot away already?'_

* * *

**Grrrrrr, you have no idea who he is, but you all hate him already, don't you? Haha. }:] Poor Tyler. And dude, you really shouldn't stay out there much longer, you'll catch cold.**


End file.
